Jewish Museum of Vienna, Vienna

Since 1993, Vienna's Jewish Museum has been housed in a building which has existed since the Middle Ages. It was redesigned in the neo-classical style in 1823 by the Jewish Banker, Bernhard von Eskeles and named after the co-founder of Austria's National Bank. In the 19th Century, artists and intellectuals came in and out of this house. The museum documents the history of Jewish people in Vienna, which has not always been peaceful. The tally of Jews now in Vienna is about 7,000, compared with 185,000 before 1938. It's interesting to note that the world's first Jewish Museum was established in this city in 1897. Parts of the collection of art as well as elements of the archives of Vienna's Jewish Community are exhibited. Temporary displays present aspects of Jewish history and contemporary art.